Description

St. Brigitta of Sweden (1303-73, canonized 1391) was one of the most charismatic and influential visionaries of the later Middle Ages. Altogether, she received some 700 revelations dealing with a variety of subjects, from meditations on the human condition, domestic affairs in Sweden, and ecclesiastical matters in Rome, to revelations in praise of the Incarnation and devotion to the Virgin. Her Revelationes, collected and ordered by her confessors, circulated widely throughout Europe both during her lifetime and long after her death. Many eminent individuals, including Cardinal Juan Torqemada and Martin Luther, read and commented on her writings, which influenced the spiritual lives of countless individuals. Birgitta was also the founder of a new contemplative order, which still exists. She is the patron saint of Sweden, and in 2000 was declared (with Catherine of Siena and Edith Stein) the first co-patroness of Europe. Interest in Birgitta's Revelationes has grown over the past decade. Historians and theologians draw on them for insights into late medieval spirituality, artistic imagery, political struggles, and social life.
Scholars of literature study them to gain knowledge of rhetorical strategies employed in late medieval texts by women. Philologists analyze them to enhance understanding of the historical development of Latin and medieval Swedish. Increasingly, Birgitta is also admired and studied as a powerful female voice and prophet of reform. Collectively, the Revelationes encapsulate the workings of an extraordinary mind, alternating between a tender lyricism and a grim intensity and hallucinatory imagination, mixing stereotypical commonplaces with startling and sensational imagery, providing enlightenment on contemporary issues and practical advice about imminent and future events, and showing a constant devotion to the passion of Christ and a close identification with the Virgin. This is the second of four volumes and it contains Book IV and Book V. Book IV includes some of Birgitta's most influential visions, with topics ranging from the Avignon papacy and purgatory, to the Hundred Years War. Book V, the Liber Quaestionum (Book of Questions), takes the form of a learned dialogue between Christ and a monk standing on a ladder fixed between heaven and earth.
The argument centers on the way in which God's providence is constantly misunderstood and rejected by self-centered human beings. The translation is based on the recently completed critical edition of the Latin text and promises to be the standard English translation of the Revelationes for years to come. It makes this important text available to a wider audience and provides the basis for new research on one of the foremost medieval women visionaries.show more

Review quote

"I saw as it were a flat area in Rome from the papal palace near Saint Peter's to the Castel Sant'Angelo and from the castle to the Holy Spirit Hospital up to the church of Saint Peter itself. A strong and solid wall surrounded the flat area and there were various residences around the wall. Then I heard a voice saying: 'That pope who loves his bride with the love with which I and my friends have loved her will possess this place together with his assistants in order that he may with greater freedom and peace gather his advisors together.'" (Book VI chapter 74) "Hear ye, all my enemies living in the world, for I am not speaking to my friends who obey my will. Hear ye, all priests, archbishops, bishops, and all those of lower rank in the church! Hear ye, kings and princes and judges of the earth and all servants! Hear ye, women, princesses and all ladies and maidservants! Everyone of any condition and rank, all those great and small who inhabit the earth, all of you, hear the words that I, your Creator, address to you now. My complaint is that you have gone away from me and placed your trust in the devil, my enemy. You have abandoned my commandments but obeyed the will of the devil and listened to his suggestions. You have no regard for the fact that I, immutable and eternal God, your Creator, descended from heaven to the Virgin, receiving from her a body and living in your midst." (Book VII chapter 30) "I saw as it were a flat area in Rome from the papal palace near Saint Peter's to the Castel Sant'Angelo and from the castle to the Holy Spirit Hospital up to the church of Saint Peter itself. A strong and solid wall surrounded the flat area and there were various residences around the wall. Then I heard a voice saying: 'That pope who loves his bride with the love with which I and my friends have loved her will possess this place together with his assistants in order that he may with greater freedom and peace gather his advisors together.'" (Book VI chapter 74) "Hear ye, all my enemies living in the world, for I am not speaking to my friends who obey my will. Hear ye, all priests, archbishops, bishops, and all those of lower rank in the church! Hear ye, kings and princes and judges of the earth and all servants! Hear ye, women, princesses and all ladies and maidservants! Everyone of any condition and rank, all those great and small who inhabit the earth, all of you, hear the words that I, your Creator, address to you now. My complaint is that you have gone away from me and placed your trust in the devil, my enemy. You have abandoned my commandments but obeyed the will of the devil and listened to his suggestions. You have no regard for the fact that I, immutable and eternal God, your Creator, descended from heaven to the Virgin, receiving from her a body and living in your midst." (Book VII chapter 30)show more

About Denis Searby

Morris: formerly Senior Lecturer in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Hull, is a Board Member of the Institute for Medieval Studies, University of Leeds, and a Research Associate at the Universities of York and Birmingham. She is a specialist on medieval Swedish literature, and is the author of several articles and books, including an acclaimed biography of St. Birgitta of Sweden, published by The Boydell Press.
Searby: took his BA and BA at Columbia University, and his PhD at the University of Uppsala. He has previously worked as a Lecturer in Classics at the Universities of Stockholm and Uppsala, where he is currently a Research Fellow. He has produced a number of translations and critical editions in Latin and Greek, primarily within the tradition of Greek prose anthologies.show more